COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Department of Entomology and Texas AgriLife Extension would like to welcome Dr. Robert Puckett as its newest member.
Puckett will be starting his position as Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist on September 1,and will be co-located at the Rollins Urban and Structural Entomology facility where he will work with Dr. Edward Vargo, the next Endowed Chair in Urban and Structural Entomology.“We are very fortunate to be able to hire Dr. Robert Puckett as Extension Entomologist at College Station,” said Dr. Charles Allen, Extension Entomology Program Leader/Assoc. Dept. Head for Extension Programs.
Puckett will primarily be working with pest control professionals on urban pest issues. Dr. Puckett was hired in 2008 as an Assistant Research Scientist with the Center for Urban and Structural Entomology under the current Endowed Chair for Urban and Structural Entomology Dr. Roger Gold and was promoted to an Associate Research Scientist in 2012. While at the Center, he conducted research on the interactions of phorid flies and fire ants, the ecology, behavior and management of tawny crazy ants, and the ecology and behavior of Formosan Subterranean termites.
Puckett gained valuable experience as a graduate student by working as an Extension Assistant. . Puckett worked under Dr. Bart Drees and Dr. Marvin Harris monitoring treatment effects of the red imported fire ant control study, as well as conducting surveys for Texas Red Imported fire ant quarantine efforts.
Puckett has received and has been nominated for several awards and honors, including receiving the Entomological Society’s J.H. Comstock Graduate Student Award, and being nominated for the Jeffery P. LaFage Graduate Student Research Award. He currently serves as the chair of the Entomological Society of America’s Ethics and Rules Committee and as a reviewer of the Annual Student Research Award Competition Proposal for the Texas Academy of Science.
Puckett received his Ph.D. in Entomology from Texas A&M University in 2008 and following his BS and MS degrees in Biology from Sam Houston State University. “Dr. Puckett has excellent people skills which along with his knowledge, technical skills and desire to serve the public in extension make him an ideal candidate for the position,” Allen said. “We are very proud to have Dr. Puckett join our group of extension professionals. In my opinion, our already outstanding program just got stronger.”
“I am thrilled to be joining Texas A&M AgriLife Extension,” Puckett said. “I cannot wait to begin working with such an extraordinary group of people.”